bridge."
Conan sits up and looks into Adrian's hand. "It looks dirty. Why's it not in a box?"
"It's not the kind of pill you get from the chemist. It's better."
"I usually take two white ones for my headaches. And one pink one later on. But only when they're real bad. This one's not so bad."
"You can have two of these pills if you like, but I'd have to charge you for the second one. First one's free."
Conan reaches out and takes what Adrian's offering. It's time for me to do something.
"Just hold on to that for a wee second, mate."
Adrian's head snaps up and he fixes me with a furious glare. He knows he's rumbled. The speccy sneak grabs for Conan's wrist.
"Hold on to it, Conan. I want a wee look."
Adrian may as well be wrestling with a thick tree branch. Conan's arm is unmovable. But I move fast, unwilling to miss my chance of figuring out what this weird exchange is all about. I'm right beside them in a blink.
"Open your hand, Conan."
His thick fingers spring open on command. The big guy obviously trusts me. Adrian makes a snatch for the little white pill on Conan's palm, but I'm much quicker. I pinch it between my forefinger and thumb and skip backwards out of Adrian's reach. It only takes a second to confirm my suspicion. The pill has three little diamonds stamped into it, arranged in a triangle.
"A fucking Mitsubishi? How the hell did you get an E-tab in here?"
"Give me that back, you midgety wee bastard."
"Don't get nasty. Just tell me where you got it."
"Fuck yourself."
"All right. I guess I'll just hand it in to one of the supervisors …" I turn towards the door. Don't even get one foot in front of the other before Adrian starts to panic.
"Danny, Danny. Here, Danny. Don't be at it, all right? I've already had an Adverse Report this week. Something like this is going to earn me more than a privilege drop. They'll charge me with possession."
"But if they find out I didn't report it I'll be in the shit too, Ady ."
He doesn't even complain when I don't use his full name. I've got him by the short and curlies.
"We'll figure something out," Adrian says. "Why don't you keep it?"
"So you can tout on me? Fuck that. I'm flushing this as soon as I can."
"I'm no tout."
Adrian's a good liar, I'll give him that. But he's got squealer written all over him. He's exactly the type of kid they target in here for info. A soft guy that acts tough. The scumbags running this hole might call it an 'anti-bullying initiative' or 'crisis intervention' but it's just backroom bullshit. Another means to divide and conquer. If they ever had the balls to ask me to snitch I'd spit in their faces, fuck the consequences.
"It's a bit of a stalemate, this, isn't it?"
Adrian knots his eyebrows together.
"Like neither of us can win in this situation."
"So, how do we sort it, Danny?"
"First, tell me how you got the pill in here. If there's a weakness somewhere, I want to know about it."
"What for?"
"Never you mind. But I'll straight out tell you that I'm not interested in drugs, so if you're dealing and worried about me nicking customers, relax."
Adrian starts to get twitchy. His eyes dart between me and the door. I know he's worried that a supervisor is going to show up and really complicate things here. Starting to feel a bit sweaty about the prospect myself, but I have to play this cool. Maintain control. The wanker is going beyond annoying and I need to pull him into line.
Adrian growls with frustration. "Fine. Fuck's sake. I've a connection that helps me out. One of the canteen workers. He's mates with my older brother and he'll take a risk for me the odd time. He'll not do anything for anybody else, though."
"Aye, somebody might give him up." I knew this speccy prick was a born tout.
"So, are we cool?"
I turn to Conan who's been looking on and letting this play out in silence. He shrugs at me, passes the buck.
"So long as you leave Conan alone, we're fine and dandy."
"Deal." Adrian pushes his glasses up his
Conan sits up and looks into Adrian's hand. "It looks dirty. Why's it not in a box?"
"It's not the kind of pill you get from the chemist. It's better."
"I usually take two white ones for my headaches. And one pink one later on. But only when they're real bad. This one's not so bad."
"You can have two of these pills if you like, but I'd have to charge you for the second one. First one's free."
Conan reaches out and takes what Adrian's offering. It's time for me to do something.
"Just hold on to that for a wee second, mate."
Adrian's head snaps up and he fixes me with a furious glare. He knows he's rumbled. The speccy sneak grabs for Conan's wrist.
"Hold on to it, Conan. I want a wee look."
Adrian may as well be wrestling with a thick tree branch. Conan's arm is unmovable. But I move fast, unwilling to miss my chance of figuring out what this weird exchange is all about. I'm right beside them in a blink.
"Open your hand, Conan."
His thick fingers spring open on command. The big guy obviously trusts me. Adrian makes a snatch for the little white pill on Conan's palm, but I'm much quicker. I pinch it between my forefinger and thumb and skip backwards out of Adrian's reach. It only takes a second to confirm my suspicion. The pill has three little diamonds stamped into it, arranged in a triangle.
"A fucking Mitsubishi? How the hell did you get an E-tab in here?"
"Give me that back, you midgety wee bastard."
"Don't get nasty. Just tell me where you got it."
"Fuck yourself."
"All right. I guess I'll just hand it in to one of the supervisors …" I turn towards the door. Don't even get one foot in front of the other before Adrian starts to panic.
"Danny, Danny. Here, Danny. Don't be at it, all right? I've already had an Adverse Report this week. Something like this is going to earn me more than a privilege drop. They'll charge me with possession."
"But if they find out I didn't report it I'll be in the shit too, Ady ."
He doesn't even complain when I don't use his full name. I've got him by the short and curlies.
"We'll figure something out," Adrian says. "Why don't you keep it?"
"So you can tout on me? Fuck that. I'm flushing this as soon as I can."
"I'm no tout."
Adrian's a good liar, I'll give him that. But he's got squealer written all over him. He's exactly the type of kid they target in here for info. A soft guy that acts tough. The scumbags running this hole might call it an 'anti-bullying initiative' or 'crisis intervention' but it's just backroom bullshit. Another means to divide and conquer. If they ever had the balls to ask me to snitch I'd spit in their faces, fuck the consequences.
"It's a bit of a stalemate, this, isn't it?"
Adrian knots his eyebrows together.
"Like neither of us can win in this situation."
"So, how do we sort it, Danny?"
"First, tell me how you got the pill in here. If there's a weakness somewhere, I want to know about it."
"What for?"
"Never you mind. But I'll straight out tell you that I'm not interested in drugs, so if you're dealing and worried about me nicking customers, relax."
Adrian starts to get twitchy. His eyes dart between me and the door. I know he's worried that a supervisor is going to show up and really complicate things here. Starting to feel a bit sweaty about the prospect myself, but I have to play this cool. Maintain control. The wanker is going beyond annoying and I need to pull him into line.
Adrian growls with frustration. "Fine. Fuck's sake. I've a connection that helps me out. One of the canteen workers. He's mates with my older brother and he'll take a risk for me the odd time. He'll not do anything for anybody else, though."
"Aye, somebody might give him up." I knew this speccy prick was a born tout.
"So, are we cool?"
I turn to Conan who's been looking on and letting this play out in silence. He shrugs at me, passes the buck.
"So long as you leave Conan alone, we're fine and dandy."
"Deal." Adrian pushes his glasses up his
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